Cat is out of the bag in welfare scam in Brazil

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The cat was out of the bag when a health inspector paid a visitMichael Bodmann/Getty Images

James HiderSão Paulo

Published at 12:01AM, January 28 2014

With the World Cup approaching, Brazil has stepped up its efforts to eradicate child labour. Its “bolsa familia” or family stipend, costs $10 billion a year and is paid out to poor families who send their children to school rather than to work.

Four-year-old Billy da Silva Rosa was one such beneficiary. Not for him working in a mine or picking cashews. For seven months his family had been receiving the stipend — which pays for education, vaccinations, other basic healthcare and food — and presumably he was looking forward to school.